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Rocket Report: Artemis II literally tore through the atmosphere; New Glenn delay
Interstellar Technologies announces more government funding for the Japanese Zero rocket.
Welcome to Edition 9.18 of the Rocket Report! Blue Origin packed a lot of news into one afternoon Thursday with the reveal of a new kick stage for the New Glenn rocket, a new rocket engine design, and the minor and widely expected delay for New Glenn’s return-to-flight mission from December until January. The reconstruction of Blue Origin’s wrecked launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, continues apace after a catastrophic explosion nearly six months ago. There’s a lot of pent-up demand from NASA, Amazon, and the Space Force for Blue Origin to get New Glenn back in action.
As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don’t want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.
SpaceX vets work on water-fed propulsion. Three brothers who worked at SpaceX in the Falcon 9 era are now building satellites that run on water, a potentially harvestable resource on the Moon and found all over the Solar System, Ars reports. In late 2022, the three Carlisle brothers founded Argo Space to build infrastructure in space. Their vision was not just in-space transportation but also removing the need to use propellants from Earth to move around the heavens. Argo Space’s satellites will use water not only as a propellant, but also as a coolant and radiation shield.
How does this work? … Argo Space flew its first mission in July, but the spacecraft failed after one of its solar arrays didn’t deploy, and there wasn’t enough time to test the propulsion system. Two more missions are on Argo Space’s schedule for 2027 to demonstrate the company’s water-based thrusters. The propulsion system is basically a small rocket that uses hydrogen and oxygen as propellants. However, instead of launching with separate tanks of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, the satellite carries a reservoir of liquid water. In space, the vehicle uses solar power to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases and burns them to generate thrust.
JAXA backs small satellite launcher. Japanese launcher startup Interstellar Technologies has secured the backing of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for its Zero rocket program, Aviation Week & Space Technology reports. The company said JAXA selected it as part of its Acceleration of Commercial Rocket Launch Demonstration program under the Space Strategic Fund. The government-funded program supports development and flight demonstrations of private launch companies with grants of up to $76 million per company, with the goal of fostering a growing commercial launch industry in Japan. Interstellar previously raised more than $250 million, with roughly equivalent funds from government and private capital.
Zeroing in … Interstellar is using the money to complete development of its Zero rocket, a two-stage launcher designed to carry up to 1 metric ton (2,200 pounds) of payload to low-Earth orbit. “We have achieved critical technical milestones, including Japan’s first successful firing test of an orbital-class methane engine,” said Satoshi Nakayama, director of the board and president of Interstellar. “We have now reached the stage where we must swiftly turn these proven development results into operational commercial services.” The most recent update from Interstellar indicated a first launch of Zero in 2027.
Launch demand outpacing supply. A new report from analytics firm Quilty Space confirms that, outside of China, the world faces a significant shortage of rockets over the next five years, Ars reports. The firm estimates that between now and 2030, there will be a shortfall of about 150 launches compared to demand from satellite operators and civil space agencies. If demand from the US military is added in—